


Familiar Faces, Connected Stories

by Moonwarrioryt



Series: Teaming the Pieces Together [5]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: -not really though; it gets close, Brotherly Affection, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cussing, Food, M/M, Mentioned Past Kidnapping, Past Kidnapping, Protective Logic | Logan Sanders, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, They found eachother!, Virgil gets understandably annoyed, do not copy to another site, dont worry though, self deprecation, sorry virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21782431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonwarrioryt/pseuds/Moonwarrioryt
Summary: ' Virgil leaned back and stared curiously at his teammates, instinctively sliding a paw in front of his brothers, surprising the two. From their past prospective, Virgil always stayed back, uncomfortable with any form of pokemon battles. Yet here the youngest was, defending the two against pokemon he seemed to trust. Trust? Did he not?The two Eevees shared a glace, one thing running in both their mindswas it possible to get their brother back? 'It's time we brought our good ol trash rat and slimey boi into the storyWell trash Eevee and.. ok Deceit is still a slimey boi but they're also here!
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, platonic:
Series: Teaming the Pieces Together [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1457683
Comments: 2
Kudos: 134





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! It's me! Somehow
> 
> Anyway I'm so sorry for the wait! Theres a lot going on in my life (lot of anxiety, writers block :(, and school, but our last day for 3 weeks is today!) but I finally was able to finish this! Some bits I nearly cried at while making because either soft™ or sad™, so get ready!
> 
> This is also being split into two chapters (not parts!) I felt like it had a nice cliffhanger there at the end, as well as i reallyyyy wanted this to get out, so i did it >:D after this, we final start the evolutions
> 
> Also! It speaks of a past meeting between the dark bois and the team, I did not write it! I'm basing it off this story, which Sugar (the creator of this AU, I'm just writing for them) has said is cannon (and my works too, which is an honor to me!) Here is the link :3 
> 
> https://sans-comics-does-stuff.tumblr.com/post/186542911917/runaway-eevees

Thomas stirred the boiling pot beneath a slowly darkening sky, making sure to watch the food so nothing burned. He wasn't the  _ best _ at cooking, but he'd learned enough to make some food when stuck in the woods, and having a Logan helped quite a bit. 

"Hey!" He stumbled a bit as Roman crashed into his leg, the Eevee chasing Patton around. Roman shook his head, chirped up a sorry before going back to the chase. Thomas shook his head fondly, returning his gaze to the cooking stand "be careful guys, Virgil keep an eye on them" Patton and Roman cried out at Thomas' distrust, but continued playing anyways as Virgil watched laying by the table.

  
  


After some time, Virgil occasionally snapping at Roman, Thomas was nearing down with the stew when crashing and yelps caught his attention. He whipped his head up just to see Roman and Virgil tangled together, the table fallen onto its side and the finished berry skewers astray across the ground. Patton ran over, sniffing as the two untangled themselves from each other. Thomas groaned.

"That's it! Patton, you're going to stay right next to me, Virgil and Roman, you're going out and getting us more berries" all three cried out as Logan shook his head from Thomas' shoulders.

"You two, don't even try. Virgil, I need you to keep an eye on Roman so he doesn't run off. And don't try me, I remember that giant pile of Oran berries you brought us" Virgil grumbled, hissing a bit at Roman before leading the way out of the clearing circle. Patton walked over, glumly laying down over Thomas feet. Thomas sighed, he could pick the table up later he supposed, focusing on the pot once again.

Not noticing the two pairs of eyes watching.

  
  
  


Eevee flicked his tail, the uniquely marked pokemon correctly predicting and stifling his brother's angry huff once again. Even with this action, he could understand his partner.

Because he was right there, right there! Their Eevee brother was walking away with another Eevee, telling the brown furred pokemon ('Roman' he believed) off for getting him mixed up in the other's mess. And then there was the trainer.

Eevee glared at the smiling human, stirring a large d̶e̶l̶i̶c̶i̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶s̶m̶e̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ pot, two more Eevees laying on him. If it wasn't for their brother always being around the human or the other pokemon, they couldn't have gotten him back a while ago. Yet, they had learned their lesson after the chase, the marked Eevee stifling his own growl at the light gray Eevee laying at the trainer feet. If it wasn't for  _ him _ especially, he remembered the day they almost got their smallest back.

"Please" his brother whined quietly "he's alone with just  _ one _ of the Eevees, if he saw us he would help! Can't we just go get him now?" He shot a sympathetic look at the other Eevee, understanding his pain. The trash covered pokemon always had a bit of a stronger connection, not much but something more, as he was the one to find the small one in a dumpster. The other shuffled closer and he rapped a tail around his non blooded brother, keeping him close.

"No, you remember how strong, what was he called? Patton was, and you see how often they train. We wouldn't stand a chance" the other's ears lowered.

"I.. I just want him back" the other murmured, ducking his head into his fur, the cleaner of the pair giving a reassuring lick back.

The two jolted as they were brought back to reality, only realizing too late how loud they began to speak as a gray head poked through the bush they were hiding within.

The three Eevees stared at each other for only a moment before the marked Eevee leapt up, standing defensively between his friend and the pet, letting out a low growl. Its eyes merely blinked behind glasses before brightening.

"Oh! It's you!" Patton exclaimed, from the sound of it his tail swishing back and forth rapidly "whatcha doing here?" The tail swishing suddenly stopped as the shiny glared "you aren't here to try and steal Virgil away again, are you?"

The protective Eevee pushed the other behind him a bit, signaling to run, but the trash loving Eevee didn't budge. He sent a look back at the other, only to see the pokemon completely petrified. Oh right, last time they came in contact with Patton he knocked him out nearly immediately.

The shiny seemed to notice, blinking away the anger from his eyes "are you hungry? We wouldn't mind you joining us for dinner, if you wanted!" 

And now the marked Eevee froze, yet in confusion. Did.. he just offer food to them?  _ With a trainer no less _ ? He was about to protest when his stomach betrayed him.

Patton perked as the marked Eevee used his tail to bring his brother forward, keeping him close ".. I guess free food would be a stupid thing to pass up" Patton giggled before his head dissapeared as he ran back to the trainer.

"Wait" the trashy Eevee stopped him, "What are you doing? We, we can't-" "I know, but" the smaller yet protective Eevee hesitated "we, we might be able to see  _ him _ again" the other looked down. This could be their only safe chance, heck the moment they see him the trainer might run them off. The realization they may not be able to be with their youngest brother again hit both hard, but at least seeing him, whether forced to stay with the trainer or (somehow) happy with his place, at least they would know.

The non blooded brothers looked at each other one last time before nodding, making their way through the bush.

  
  
  


Thomas kept a half an eye on Patton as he turned off the camping stove set MJ gave him, walking over with Logan still laying over his shoulders and picking up the knocked over mini foldable table. He went to pick up the dirty berry skewers when a chirp behind him caught his attention.

"So, what were you looking at Pat-" Thomas stood and turned around, only for Logan to let out a deep grown from his shoulders and surprise from himself.

"So" Thomas smiled, crossing his arms "we meet again" the two Eevees moved cautiously into view, Patton leading. He remembered these Eevees from a couple of months ago, yet he didn't think he'd be followed.

Patton chirped happily, running up to Thomas and nodded to the skewers. Thomas raised an eyebrow "you.. want then to join us for dinner?" Pattom chirped again, rising up onto his hind legs and pawing up in an honestly adorable manner. Thomas smiled, petting Logan's head to calm his fur.

"Alright, if they help us clean this up, they can join" The two Eevees seemed surprised by the news, but after Thomas explained where to put them, they rushed forwards to help.

With their help everything finished up quite quickly, Thomas starting a fire once again for when Roman and Virgil returned back. Virgil.

The trainer was now sitting in a camping chair, Logan still giving him a look of 'how dare you let these hooligans near my son and husband again', but Thomas blatantly ignored him, instead focusing on poking at the fire as Patton and the dirt covered Eevee rolled around, they one with marks around it's eye lazily watched the fire a few feet away from Thomas. He stole some glances at the strangers but inevitably realized they would commit no harm.

Though something, something was bugging him.

He sighed, dropping the stick some inches from the fires edge and leaning back in his chair, all the Eevees halting in their action and looking to the trainer as he huffed.

"Sometimes, I hate language barriers" he muttered, causing four heads to tilt, making the trainer chuckle.

"Well, I know you two tried to steal Virgil from us, you probably know him from somewhere" he waved at the wild Eevees "the only thing I don't know is, well, why" Patton and Logan perked in interest, as if realizing they never thought to think of that.

At that moment, the bushes started to shake.

______________________________

Virgil slightly winced as he picked up a falling Pecha berry, placing the berry back onto the pile. Originally the two  _ were _ pulling the giant leaf topped of berries together, but berries kept rolling off, and with Roman really being the one punished, Virgil got the easy job.

Roman stopped for breathing break, panting slightly "c'mon Bluk Berry, please switch?" In response Virgil grabbed a Bluk berry and tossed it at Roman's face when he wasn't looking, getting a sad and insulted hiss back "nope, you got me into this, you get to do the labor Princey" Roman dropped his ears glumly "calm down you Drama Vespiquen, we're literally almost back" the idiot he called his boyfriend perked up at that, grabbing the leaf's strong stem and pulling backwards.

Not long afterwards they reached their final obstacle, Virgil making his way to the front and pulled the branches off to the side to make a clear path. As Roman dragged it through the same damn Pecha berry was knocked off the top, bouncing down to the ground. The dark furred Eevee huffed at it, letting the starter pass through before paddling forward and picking it up. No way he was going to leave a Pecha behind again.

He sighed, turning around and ducking his head, his slightly longer ears straight (or as straight as possible) back as he pushed through the bush. Seriously, why did they pick this way to come back as well, they could have moved anywhere and they came back the difficult route. He pushed his way through, his body escaping the bush only to bump right into the berry pile. Honestly it was a miracle nothing fell.

He placed the Pecha berry down, making his way around the pile "Roman, what the fu-" he stopped dead.

Roman stood in a defensive position, low growls escaping his throat. Patton perked up by a newly set fire, Logan glancing over from Thomas' lap. And then..

It

It couldn't be

He brushed against Roman, eyes wide as two pokemon he thought he would never see again stared back. Puzzle pieces he accidentally lost, ones he looked for for so long before accepting defeat.

One stepped forward, the stink from his fur not pleasant, but it wasn't horrible. It felt familiar in fact. The Eevee took a deep breath, before

"hey Little Trash" the Eevee smiled, surprisingly still in one place "did you miss us?"

The answer was given with Virgil tackling said sticky Eevee, purrs rolling out like a thunderstorm "its you!"

His brother laughed, quickly switching back to his chaotic playful nature and snapped up at the smaller, rolling them around.

"Hey! What about me?" The two tumbled apart, Virgil nearly bouncing up and, without noticing the completely confused gazes coming from Thomas, Logan, Roman, and Patton, bolted strait into the strangely marked Eevee, cuddling deep into the parental and brotherly figure, breathing in the long lost familiar scent. The trashy Eevee crashed into the pair, thankfully not knocking them over, joining the three Eevees into a long lost family hug.

It was something Virgil missed, the two scents were like a comfortable blanket, rapping around himself leaving all his worries outside. He didn't want to confront Thomas or the other, he didn't want to know if they would stay or not, Virgil just wanted to be here with them, and unbelievable, he was. He finally found half of his family he lost, he wouldn't lose them again.

Unfortunately though, time still existed, a attention grabbing cough came from Thomas crashing reality back down on the trio, the crackling of fire, the wind blowing through the trees

and the low growls coming from two of the other Eevees.

Virgil leaned back and stared curiously at his teammates, instinctively sliding a paw in front of his brothers, surprising the two. From their past prospective, Virgil always stayed back, uncomfortable with any form of pokemon battles. Yet here the youngest was, defending the two against pokemon he seemed to trust. Trust? Did he not?

The two Eevees shared a glace, one thing running in both their minds

was it possible to get their brother back?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ' Virgil's eyes widened "you've all met before" he looked at all five Eevee's faces, finding guilt in three and confusion in the other two "when, how? Was it before I met all of you?" He scratched at the ground.
> 
> His brother-father figure perked up behind him "you.. never told him?" He questioned the three trained Eevees, who all shuffled their feet. "We didn't want to worry him?" Roman tried, only for his trash brother to growl. '
> 
> The group will finally tell their stories, revealing past connections, and making new ones for the journey ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4 months later, I finally finished the second half!! :D Ohmygosh I'm so sorry for the wait, but thank you all for being so patient, alot has happened including the absolutely dreaded writers block. All of your comments, likes/kudos, reblogs (on Tumblr) have been helping me finish this chapter, so I really want to thank you guys for enjoying this💙💙💙💙  
> Another important note, but there is a reason I'm posting this today. That's because today (April 2nd) is my 16th birthday! I actually finished this on Monday (March 30th) but I decided to wait the few days so it would be a bit more special  
> Also dont worry, if your new here (go check out the previous stories!) do note I'm going to be writing my interpretation of the pokebois evolutions :D that and more short side stories are coming asap  
> Alright I've held you long enough, do enjoy!
> 
> Bonus note: the fic 'Runaway Eevees' is what @Sugarglider9603 (the creator and owner of this AU) has said cannonly happened of how Remus and Deceit met the group, so if you wanna read that go ahead (it's a good read, I highly recommend doing it so a few of these scenes make a tad more sense) :D link to fic⤵️
> 
> https://sugarglider9603.tumblr.com/post/186579345639/runaway-eevees

Virgil watched as Thomas set his hands on Roman and Logan's backs, putting a halt on the growling. Well, for now at least.

He inwardly sighed, he knew the others where protective, heck he himself was being protective of his brothers at the moment. But this much hostility to other pokemon he obviously knew? He even saw Patton's tail twitching, as though the father figure wanted to pull Virgil away but was resisting.

He remembered when he first met this group of misfits, that field of flowers where Patton taught him how to make flower crowns. Yes Logan was sitting out, but Roman pounced at any opportunity to play with any wild pokemon, and Patton came right over to join the dark furred Eevee the second he showed himself. Them acting this way around pokemon they never met..

Virgil's eyes widened "you've all met before" he looked at all five Eevee's faces, finding guilt in three and confusion in the other two "when, how? Was it before I met all of you?" He scratched at the ground.

His brother-father figure perked up behind him "you.. never told him?" He questioned the three trained Eevees, who all shuffled their feet. "We didn't want to worry him?" Roman tried, only for his trash brother to growl.

"Well!" Thomas clapped, startling them all "I'm guessing you guys need to talk about something, and since language barriers exist and food still needs to be cooked, I'm going to go burn that. Don't faint each other!" The trainer stood up from his chair making his way to the pile of berries, leaving several Eevees that probably would faint each other before speaking a word.

Virgil huffed, suspicious and annoyed "alright, first things first!" He chirped in a light tone, though it was clear the growl that accompanied it reached all the others ears "would anyone mind telling me how you've all met?"

______________________________

"-and then you woke up with no knowledge of what went down, so we just didn't tell you" Roman finished lamely. All five Eevees had taken their own bits and pieces of the story to tell, mainly because when two started arguing Virgil would hiss them down. Other than that, the dark furred Eevee didn't speak a word and kept his face neutral throughout.

Virgil sighed, flicking his tail "so you never thought once _why_ two random Eevees took me? Logan, I thought you were the smart one. Well" he added and Logan's ears started to lower in shame "you are the smartest one here, just not about this.

"And you two" the youngest turned his head "did it occur to you that you could have just gone up and asked?" He paused, realizing the answer before the marked Eevee spoke.

"Well," he mumbled, "for one we thought they were the ones that took you in the first place. You just disappeared that day" Virgil shuddered, remembering that was true, though the truck story could be told another day "plus they're.. caught pokemon" he finished. "Ya" Virgil continued "just like me."

"But-" the stink covered Eevee tried, but Virgil shook his head.

"Thomas met me several times before I joined the team, in fact from the story Logan and Patton have told me" he flicked his tail to the shiny pair of parents "Thomas wouldn't let himself catch them until both of them made it clear they wanted to join his journey."

Patton nodded "before Thomas saved us, twice if you count the Team Rocket members in the marketplace, we never trusted humans. Most of the time humans tried to steal us for our fur color, Thomas was different" the father figure hesitated, "it.. kind of felt like a puzzle piece clicking into place when we met."

All the Eevees blinked as Thomas hummed in the background. None of the Eevees had ever mentioned to another about a feeling of a puzzle piece, Thomas had once made a comment of it, but the three there to witness that were more focused on Virgil's tail slipping into the bushes. The two unnamed Eevees even remembered when they first met Virgil hidden in the dumpster, they had felt some kind of connection.

"That.. wasn't just me who's been feeling that when we all meet?" Roman voice stumbled, eyes widening even more as the other 5 shook their heads.

"Well, you all seem to be in a better mood" Thomas chuckled, causing them all to jump. "Woah" he calmed, laughing.

"Well, food is all ready and prepared, there's enough for you guys as well" he grinned at the newbies.

The two hesitated at the idea of food, but with a comforting chirp from their brother, they followed.

______________________________

With dinner cleaned away (Thomas somehow managing not to burn anything, Logan praised happily) the group curled before a campfire as the trainer roasted marshmallows (these, he did manage to burn more often than not).

Virgil spent this time explaining to both groups how he knew both sides, of how trash and marked Eevees saved him (he didn't explain what he was escaping from), how he really was taken from them, how he met the group in the field of flowers, and how he finally stayed with Thomas for good. By the end of the story his head was laid on the ground as he cuddled Roman (a late addition during the story time, since when he explained they were boyfriends the trash covered Eevee full on tackled Roman) listening to the fire crackle. Wispy clouds drifted lazily across the sky as the night crawling forest pokemon howled and chirped and hooted.

He looked at his family, most of his past was back in his life; but for how long? He shuddered and curled more into Roman's warm fur, hating the realization he might lose them again after looking for so long. They wouldn't want to be with a trainer, ~~especially~~ even if it meant having Virgil being back in their lives.

 _Virgil_. He nearly spat the name at the ground. He wanted one again for so long, from the day he hatched he had one before it and everything was taken away by.. her. He vowed never to take a name again, especially from a human. If he did, would he be betraying his oldest family connection? What would Sleep and Pecha think of his now, their little Star taking a new name, only for this one to probably drive these brothers away.

Virgil lifted his head up, staring at the two nameless pokemon maybe four tail lengths away. Why did they keep searching for him anyways?

He startled as Roman nudged his cheek. "Sorry" the starter apologized "you just dazed off staring at those two, I was wondering if you were ok."

Virgil sighed "I.. I was just wondering, why did they follow me" he mumbled, unable to look at anyone he opted to stare up at the sky. Unfortunately the world decided to push the clouds out of the clearings sky view, only piling on more of his original family's guilt. He never went searching for that farm ever again after his.. escape, and knowing Thomas they wouldn't go 100 feet anywhere near there with Patton, Logan, and Virgil. Sure, Sleep was reckless, but Pecha would be sensible enough to know not to go out into the world, an unknown area only Eevees who were taken by trainers ever saw. Those puzzle pieces were probably lost to time.

But these two.. he looked back down, Star's eyes trailing at all of his family's faces, stopping at the two. They were _here_ , close enough in one bound he could tackle them. Why did they come, why did they care enough to try and steal him back from (what they knew at the time) hostile people and pokemon? Why did they keep looking, why did he keep looking?

Why.. did he keep looking? Virgil stood up, eyes widening. Because they were, they are family. Family he didn't want to lose, he couldn't lose any more of them. With a push from his hind legs and a squeak of surprise from Roman as he momentarily turned into a launch pad, Virgil crashed into his brothers.

"Shit, wha-" one of them cried, getting cut off as Virgil curled close.

"Please don't leave me again" Virgil chirped quietly, to the point only the two he was curled against him could hear. Virgil burrowed closer "please" he whispered "I can't lose anyone again."

The two looked at each other in surprise. They thought, well Virgil wouldn't want them to stick around. From how he told the story they would never (and probably want never) to take the smallest away from this team, and from the looks of it the three Eevees didn't trust them much right now. They didn't, right?

They usually would never hang around a human more than a few moments, never used to having a family bigger than just the three of them. It seemed logically from their past for it to be near impossible for this human and three of his pokemon to ever trust them.

..But

But it was like the light silver shiny had said earlier, they could feel the puzzle pieces there, already connected to Virgil and ready to connect with them all. A human, who was like none other. He had witnessed them take one of his own, but when that one showed he still trusted the two misfits, the trainer opened his arms, gave them food for no other reason than one he trusted showed they trusted the two strangers.

And the three Eevees, Virgil seemed to trust them to the ends of the Earth. Patton had offered them to join their meal right away. Roman had laughed off the trash Eevees tackle and just said Logan's reaction had been similar. Logan, while seeming to be the least likely one to want them here, listened to their half of the story without interrupting unless to give more detail, and was showing trust even now by watching from the fire's other side, not moving an inch. They trusted them in a way.

No, they didn't think of these four as family yet, but for the first time since they met Virgil, since they met _each other_ , there seemed to be a chance to make that come true.

"Ok", the marked Eevee nudged Virgil "we'll think about it overnight."

For some reason, they realized they wouldn't even need that time.

Because the best part of staying was not only they would gain a whole family, one they would perhaps one day learn they could always trust, but they would regain their brother. Their brother they would have searched for eternity to find, and given anything to stay with.

______________________________

Thomas yawned as he sat up, Patton rolling off the trainer's shoulder still fast asleep and swapped to flopping over a passed out Logan, who was moments ago tucked between Thomas's ear and shoulder. The human glanced around, finding Roman (who always moved in his sleep) laying across the sleeping bag where his left ankle was. Last but not least Virgil was curled under a cuddle puddle with the two new Eevees from last night off next to his sleeping bag, the only contact being Virgil's tail brushing Roman's.

The trainer chuckled and slid his foot away from it's prison, quietly hissing as he tested the tingling foot. Of course it was asleep. Well, the best way to wake it up was to get active so..

The dirty Eevee stretched, rolling off from the top of the cuddle puddle. He let out a small oof when he came in contact with the floor a moment later than he expected. The strange, definitely not earth floor….

Eevee blinked, watching not one but _two_ of his brothers curl together sleeping. _Yesterday wasn't a dream_ he realized happily, watching the three other Eevees scattered throughout the tent sleep. A pleasant smell carried his paws out of the durable plastic flap, emerging to a bright, just after dawn day. The human ( _Thomas_ his always chaotic mind somehow supplied) was back making more hot food. Well, at least he seemed to be attempting with varying success, a stack of nice enoughly done pancakes sat on a plate to his left, with a smaller (but not by much) pile of black crispy pancakes to his right. Now the left crispy brown ones looked appealing, the Eevee thought the crispy, burnt pancakes smelled like a gift from Arceus himself.

Thomas stumbled in surprise when the stack of miserable pancakes clattered to the ground, only to laugh as he watched the dirtier of the Eevee pair dive at them hungrily.

"Well breakfast won't be ready for a bit more, but I wouldn't mind the early clean up crew" he giggled as the Eevee glanced up only for a moment, only to turn to back and attack the pancakes again.

"Just make sure not to scatter them too far" Thomas warned kindly, turning back to the camping stove " we'll have to clean up afterwards." The trainer smiled as the Eevee chirped in agreement.

Soon the others crawled out, and the burnt pancake (and other foods Thomas just didn't get right) devourer went to chirp and chat with the others. Food was served, equipment packed, and about two hours later Thomas was adjusting everything onto his back. If it hasn't been for Logan, Thomas knew he would never have had his stuff packed so neatly.

"Welp" Thomas said out loud "it's time to get going, we have a gym challenge next town" his four cheered different levels of excitement. He turned to the two wild runners "I guess this is goodbye for now" he smiled

After so many run-ins with Virgil, Thomas had skillfully learned how to hide his heart ripping out everytime he had to leave puzzle pieces behind.

This skill came into play hard when Virgil looked up at the trainer with such sorrow, Thomas nearly burst to tears right then and there. Instead he smiled, offering a hand for comforting pets. Virgil did not walk near the hand, instead letting out and angry hiss.

Thomas shook his head, wishing he could fully understand what Virgil was saying, but got the message "I can't force them, you know better than anyone here that I only bring members on my team if they want to join. Never by force, I always give an option."

Virgil wine was cut off though as the dirty Eevee snapped from his frozen trance and bounded forwards, stepping up to Thomas and putting his paw onto the human's hand. Somewhere in him remembered a similar interaction with Roman when they first met, but that was washed away when the other Eevee came up and chirped something, only to get tackled by Virgil right after.

"Oh" Thomas realized, smiling "I'm guessing that's a good thing?" He asked his team beside him. Patton nodded excitedly, Roman purred, and Logan merely flicked his tail positively.

"I guess I can do this then" he slid out two pokeballs, setting them on the ground. The wild pair looked at eachother one last time before the smaller marked one nodded, and both touched the white button.

"So" Thomas asked as the group wandered down the trail, focusing on the pair walking (or in the dirtier ones case bouncing) by his feet "I was wondering if I could offer giving you names? You don't have to, but-" Virgil rubbed the trainer's cheek from his spot in the hood, stopping the human's splutter of words before chirping some of his own down. The two below responded after a moment and Virgil gave off a purr as a signal: both had agreed it would be ok.

"Alright.." he mumbled. Earlier events of when the dirt covered Eevee had offered his paw in the same way Roman had came rushing back, turning and twisting until a name suddenly formed "how about Remus for you?" He wondered. Said Eevee stumbled as though surprised, but after a moment Remus gave a happy chirp, Thomas smiled in return.

Finally there was the Eevee with the special marks on his face. There was something in his mind that he felt for some reason, it just felt right for him to call the other 

"Janus" he mumbled by accident out loud, the trainer's eyes widened as he glanced curiously at the pokemon "what about Janus?" The Eevee seemed to think hard although weighing the name vs. something only he saw, he knew. Before Thomas could speak the little Eevee glaced up and nodded, the most determined nod he had gotten out of the six of them for figuring out their name.

Six of them.

Thomas grinned widely as all _six_ of his Eevees walked or rode on him. It had all started with Roman, the first time Thomas had found a puzzle piece. Then Patton and Logan, Virgil, and finally Remus and Janus. It felt right, like he was home. Like he was with family.

"It's interesting," he voiced quietly to his team "how many of us have seen each other before really meeting each other. There's even more to explore in the future, so many possibilities, so many mysteries. But I'm glad" he sighed gleefully as the distant sound of cars passed. The town was close by.

"I'm glad I get to do it with so many familiar faces. I'm glad that we all have connected stories. I.. honestly couldn't imagine walking our next journey without you guys, my completed puzzle

My family."


End file.
